tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18814640728743836862024-03-06T14:02:53.183-06:00Bamberger Ranch JournalPictures and information about the natural world at the Bamberger Ranch Preserve.J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-74684061658584864462011-05-13T11:39:00.014-05:002011-05-23T16:02:57.836-05:00Grasses, Politics and Education<!--StartFragment--> Our current State Legislature is considering a bill to allow ranchers to retain their agricultural exemption if they maintain a healthy grass cover on their rangeland. Why would this be good for the people? It’s really quite simple. Range grasses prevent runoff of precious soil. They allow rainfall to percolate into the earth refilling our underground aquifers. Grasses J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-20192675161180091112011-02-27T03:28:00.001-06:002011-03-08T03:29:27.090-06:00PassionThis week I visited an old friend in a rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio. My friend had been in intensive care for the last 4 ½ months. He underwent seven operations in a series of events that began with a check in at the hospital for pneumonia. My friend is 86 years old. I cannot begin to tell you how all of this built up, but one of the seven operations resulted in my friend losing hisJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-35098504724603058052011-02-07T14:09:00.004-06:002011-03-08T03:30:12.072-06:00Video of the J.J. Pickle School VisitAs a follow-up to David’s posting this Sunday, readers might be interested to know that Colleen Gardner, Executive Director of the Ranch, created the following video of the J.J. Pickle school visit. Have a look.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874730776766584329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-83627344313983336382011-02-06T23:59:00.006-06:002011-02-07T01:33:25.062-06:00Passion, Reverence, VenerateFrom Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary:Passion – extreme, compelling emotion, intense emotional drive or excitement; specifically a) enthusiasm or fondness; b) strong love or affectionReverence – a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, awe and esteemVenerate – to look upon with deep respect and reverence. Synonyms – honor, respect, adore, reverence“Three Little Words” though not J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-71580484235337282952010-12-24T18:53:00.006-06:002010-12-24T18:58:22.579-06:00What Are We Celebrating and Why?Pictured left to right: Scott Grote, Ranch Operations Manager; Colleen Gardner, Executive Director; Francisco Coronilla, Ranch Hand; Steven Fulton, Ranch Biologist; J. David, Founder; Lois Sturm, Adminstrative Assistant; and our dog Cory.Photograph taken by Colleen Gardner.I’m not talking about Christmas, but rather about this place called Selah. Fifty-five hundred acres of the Texas Hill J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-45112185338231615012010-11-14T23:59:00.003-06:002010-11-15T04:10:38.056-06:00Conservationists All – “We the People”As a nation we should not expect nor depend on our government to be occupied with conservation. There is just too much going on in the world for that. We should, however, expect our elected officials to provide leadership, education and incentives in regard to conservation issues and then “we the people” can go about accomplishing the work. It is only through the voluntary efforts of “we the J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-13296171073176693782010-10-10T23:59:00.015-05:002010-10-11T03:18:29.471-05:00Bamberger’s Folly – Huh?I’ve forgotten just when this happened, but it’s all true…When our bat cave was about finished, we held a big event at the site. We invited every bat scientist we knew of as well as TV, radio and newspaper writers. They came in droves. This event was in 1998. It was the first time the word “chiroptorium” was ever used; it being authored by my son, David K. Bamberger, and my wife, Margaret C. J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-38285916199860178252010-09-27T12:42:00.006-05:002010-09-27T12:46:29.781-05:00Water Scenes - Compare and ContrastReaders of this blog might find an interesting contrast to the photos in David’s post from last week in the photos I’ve posted on my own blog. They’re panoramas shot at two of the same places pictured in David’s post, but during 2007 – the previous “wet year.” (Acutally, if memory serves, that winter and spring was wet but things dried out progressively after that.) They all show significant Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874730776766584329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-73608327297427207252010-09-24T01:50:00.000-05:002010-09-24T01:56:34.449-05:00Tropical Storm HermineHere at Selah, the eastern edge of the Hill Country, tropical storms normally don’t bring us rain. Hermine, however, was a different story and it spent two days—September 7th and 8th—over us dropping ten and one half inches on these limestone hills. Selah is at the very top of a divide, the very highest point. We are downstream from no one. On the west, a big part of the watershed goes to theJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-53369149020867080812010-08-29T23:59:00.002-05:002010-08-31T00:05:23.710-05:00Like ’Em or Not – LichensThis blog post has been on my mind for many months. Not that I studied it all that time, but mostly because it scared me! Not being a scientist I don’t speak genus and species, and really don’t know much about plants, etc. except the beauty and miracles I enjoy from them. So I asked Steven Fulton, our biologist, for help. “Steven, I want to do a blog on lichens and I need your help.” He J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-1519754519720027662010-08-08T23:59:00.000-05:002010-08-09T02:40:43.764-05:00Acquaintances Become FriendsFriend – “a person whom one knows well and is fond of; intimate associate; close acquaintance; applied loosely to any associate or acquaintance, or as a term of address even to a stranger” from Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary.In Water From Stone, I’m quoted as saying that I know a lot of people, but I have few friends. However events in my life the past few years have lead me to questions my J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-13437650450554486282010-07-25T23:59:00.001-05:002010-07-26T03:07:34.124-05:00Apple Pie and 4th of JulyOh how I remember those July 4th celebrations of the 1930’s and 40’s! I played trumpet in the marching band. As we played and paraded through that little village, there were American flags hanging everywhere, front porches were decorated with red, white and blue bunting, farmers came to our little town to witness the parade and the mayor, school superintendent or some official spoke to the J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-30884850358610302802010-07-09T23:30:00.003-05:002010-07-09T23:33:49.449-05:00Aeroecology – The Next FrontierI’d make a bet that you who follow my blog have never seen this word. Neither had I, so I looked in my trusty Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary and wasn’t at all surprised that it wasn’t there! What was there was a number of words that will give you a clue – such as aerodynetics, “a branch of aviation that has to do with gliding” or aerodynamics “relating to the force of air in motion.”Now – I’llJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-13283340696031005462010-06-21T17:06:00.001-05:002010-06-21T17:08:27.096-05:00Building an InstitutionInstitution as defined in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary – “an organization having a social, educational or religious purpose, as a school, church, hospital, etc.”In modern day practice we think of an institution as some thing that’s been around a long time, such as a university, a museum, or perhaps even a restaurant. An institution also has to be recognized as delivering a dependable product J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-68635076156821058082010-06-06T23:59:00.001-05:002010-06-07T08:31:31.870-05:00“This is Ranchin”Most old time ranches had horses, cattle, sheep and sometimes goats. Anything to generate income. Of course, too much livestock on the land had a lot to do with the problems we’re experiencing today. Overstocked land made conditions just right for woody species to take over from grass. It made conditions just right for soil erosion and these conditions caused our water sources to produce justJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-89435829434944455682010-05-23T22:37:00.002-05:002010-05-23T22:38:52.078-05:00Drought?This past winter Mother Nature was very good to us. Lots of slow soaking rains that replenished our “perched aquifer” along with winter weather - cold weather that we haven’t enjoyed for years and even snow. My fireplace consumed three cords of wood! It was so nice that many nights I woke up at 2 a.m. still sitting there. . . . Snowfall on Selah.Photograph taken by J. David.It was a good J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-89158529506880986802010-05-09T23:59:00.001-05:002010-05-11T23:26:43.262-05:00Fun Raiser or Fund Raiser?Any way you look at it our Family Picnic on Sunday, May the 2nd, was just wonderful! This was our fifth year holding the picnic. It began when I asked our Board of Directors to come up with something really worthwhile and different that would not only help us raise money, but would also bring the ranch to the attention of more people. Thanks to the creative thinking of Board member Anne J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-49992131714034198912010-04-25T23:59:00.018-05:002010-04-27T16:23:43.429-05:00Cedar RebuttalRecently many conservation oriented people received a press release by a Texas A&M University researcher that alarmed and confused them in regard to the management of cedar on their property. I can understand why as the release that came to me was very poorly written, left out important information needed to make land management decisions and, in my opinion, was very misleading. I did laterJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-13061230070129961982010-04-11T23:20:00.009-05:002010-04-11T23:32:04.195-05:00“No One Does it Alone” – Part IIIWhat human characteristic is it that drives one to hold on to power? We witness this so frequently in third world countries when leaders and dictators refuse to step down when someone is duly elected to replace them. We see it frequently in our corporations when CEO’s outlive their usefulness and many times this is detrimental to the stockholders. I can attest that it is detrimental to many inJ David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-54186328318987628842010-03-28T18:09:00.001-05:002014-03-04T17:36:37.909-06:00“No One Does it Alone” – Part IIIt bothers me somewhat to see leaders, receiving honors and given credit for their success. Whether they be CEO of a corporation, a successful start-up company or the head coach of a winning football team. Folks, they didn’t do it alone! Rare is the one who truly did it alone. To not acknowledge and give credit to those who contribute to their success is to my way of thinking, nothing more J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-88841477908347389942010-03-15T08:32:00.013-05:002010-03-15T08:43:21.569-05:00No One Does It AloneI’ve been writing this blog for one year. Telling stories about myself and happenings here from the drought to visiting groups and occasionally a little science. Maybe I made it all sound too easy or like the staff and I did all the great things here that have drawn so much publicity. I know I’ve written about our volunteers ~ “worker bees” I call them, but I haven’t said much about our Board J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-41173949997268701562010-02-28T23:58:00.000-06:002010-03-01T00:03:25.668-06:00A Record Breaking Snowbell Trip – Feb. 1, 2010These snowbell plants are ready to be planted. We have 1600 of them. It takes three years of careful nurturing to reach this size. 1600 is more than four times the known wild population. Photograph taken by J. David. The plan was to leave by 7 a.m. and head out to the Devils River in Val Verde County. We left on time ~ I had planned well ~ the day was cold and a heavy fog followed us until J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-38047349030665436882010-02-03T14:41:00.007-06:002010-02-04T16:11:16.801-06:00Bamberger Story on NPRNPR ran their piece on David yesterday, during their All Things Considered program, and they've created a page with the story, photos and a link to the audio. Go and see (and hear).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874730776766584329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-31369995360136480662010-01-29T18:02:00.004-06:002010-01-29T18:05:38.824-06:00Bamberger Story on NPR - UpdateColleen Gardner, Executive Director of the Bamberger Ranch Preserve, provides this update on the NPR story:I have just heard from Wade Goodman that it will be a 5½ minute piece that will air on All Things Considered, some day NEXT WEEK. (Not today.) As soon as it airs we will also be able to post a link on our website. Have a good weekend, all!J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881464072874383686.post-13100465369038737882010-01-28T16:23:00.002-06:002010-01-28T16:27:16.556-06:00Bamberger Story on NPR, Probably this FridayColleen [Gardner, Executive Director] has heard this morning (Thursday, 1/28) from Wade Goodwyn, National Public Radio's Dallas correspondent, concerning the airing of his 7 minute piece about the Ranch. "Maybe tomorrow," Wade said.The story will be on either "Morning Edition" which is from 5 a.m. - 9 a.m. or "All Things Considered" which is from 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. (These are all local times for J David Bambergerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02088265408830786142noreply@blogger.com0